Bread and Roses

Bread and Roses is a collective of women identified radio activists. We offer feminist public affairs programming. We give voice to those working for social justice and equity, globally and locally. We strive to challenge systems of oppression. All this, and we have fun!

This week we talk with Melissa Lowery, the filmmaker of Black Girl In Suburbia. "Black Girl In Suburbia is a feature documentary that looks into the experiences of black girls growing up in predominately white communities. It is a different look into suburbia from the perspective of women of color."

Delphine Criscenzo sat with Melissa Lowery a few days after the screening of the film at the North Portland Library, where the screening was followed by an incredible community discussion about the need to have this conversation. In this interview, Melissa explains her motivations for producing this film and the huge gap in knowledge about the experience of Black girls living in the suburbs.

Tune in this Friday for a conversation with Dayanara Marte, healer, organizer and human rights activist about her Bold Rebirth. We will talk about trauma, personal and historical, internalize oppression and violence as well as about the impact these have on the women of the world. Dayanara will share her "journey of self healing, forgiving, letting go, and finding purpose." She is the founder of In Bold Rebirth consulting and will soon release a book of the same name!

"Difference is the norm of the universe", says Nicole, Bread and Roses' guest this week. Nicole is a transgender woman who had to live with her secret for a very long time. She will share her story with us and will offer her perspective on how to make this world a better place for all of us.

Delphine Criscenzo sat with author and Professor Iris Krasnow to discuss her new book "Sex After... Women Share How Intimacy Changes as Life Changes" just before a book signing event at Powell's Bookstore.

Iris is a prolific author of narrative non-fiction books about women's empowerment. She is the author of Surrendering to Motherhood, the New York bestseller Surrendering to Marriage, Surrendering to Yourself, and I am My Mother's Daughter. Her writing has been featured in many national publications, including Parade, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and AARP The Magazine.

Twilight interviews Brenda Morgan from Sisters Of The Road. Founded in 1979, Sisters Of The Road uses nonviolence to support community driven solutions to the calamities of homelessness and poverty. Also discussed is the upcoming Journeys Art Festival a concert to benefit Sisters Of The Road featuring several well known jazz musicians.

This Friday, we talk about issues of domestic violence and how they are impacting the Portland Latino community.We welcome Kat Kelley and Sheyla Ramirez from Catholic Charities’ Hispanic program, Proyecto Unica. "Project Unica's goal is to provide support, advocacy, and opportunity for self-empowerment, enabling survivors to exercise free and informed life choices."

Audio

When will the pursuit of justice finally come to end after September 11--that's September 11, 1973, in Chile. 35 years ago, a coup supported by the US brought General Agusto Pinochet to power and what followed were years of state-sponsored disappearances, torture and executions. The story of the arrest and murder of Joyce Horman's husband, Charles, was told in the Costa Gavras film, Missing. In the decades since her husband's murder, Joyce Horman has worked tirelessly to bring the truth to light. She has just donated the archives of her investigation to the Benson Latin American collection at the University of Texas at Austin.

Interviews with Nellie Wong and Laura Mannen on The Persistent Power of Socialist Feminism, the upcoming Radical Women Conference to be held October 3-6 in San Francisco.

Part I: Nellie Wong, a long time revolutionary feminist activist and poet, will be a keynote speaker at the conference. She talks about the critical need for this conference now and a how she came to revolutionary feminism. (30 min.)

Part 2: Laura Mannen is a local immigrant rights activist and bilingual teacher. She discusses the draft resolution she will be presenting at the conference,For a U.S. Feminist Movement independent of the Twin Parties of War and Reaction. (30 min.)

Please go to radicalwomen.org for more information about the conference.

Interviews with Nellie Wong and Laura Mannen on The Persistent Power of Socialist Feminism, the upcoming Radical Women Conference to be held October 3-6 in San Francisco.

Part I: Nellie Wong, a long time revolutionary feminist activist and poet, will be a keynote speaker at the conference. She talks about the critical need for this conference now and a how she came to revolutionary feminism. (30 min.)

Part 2: Laura Mannen is a local immigrant rights activist and bilingual teacher. She discusses the draft resolution she will be presenting at the conference,For a U.S. Feminist Movement independent of the Twin Parties of War and Reaction. (30 min.)

Please go to radicalwomen.org for more information about the conference.

Interview with New York based writer and researcher Kristen Lewis, co-director of theAmerican Human DevelopmentProject. The project is a non-partisan, non-profit initiative to apply a well established international approach to measuring human well-being in the US. The human development index is a fact-based tool that examines health, education and income and compares the data across geographic, ethnic and gender lines within the US and across the globe. The results will surprise you and should steer a national debate. The report includes practical recommendations. (32 min.)

Interview with Jean DeMaster, Director of Human Solutions. DeMaster offers some local data and gives examples for creative responses in addressing issues related to poverty and inequality. Learn about easy ways to become involved. (12 min.)

Years after Hurricane Katrina, a new generation of activists are making their voices heard. The film, Talkin' Water, tells the inspiring story of four young women-- two from New York and two from New Orleans who are disillusioned by the media coverage of Hurricane Katrina and set out together to tell the "real" story. In this interview we hear from Director/Producer Shannon Sonnenstein and young filmmaker, Briceshanay of New Orleans. Learn more about this film at www.dctvny.org/talkinwater

Becca Griggs and Eryn Slack, members of UNITE HERE Local 9 spoke with Bread & Roses on May 9, 2008 about the ongoing boycott of the Portland Hilton. In this short interview, Becca and Eryn talk about hotel work experiences, the union's demand for a fair contract and actions the public can take to support these workers.

For more information about UNITE HERE go to their website: unitehere.org

During Omar Deghayes' 5 years of imprisonment at Guantanamo, his family became very outspoken. For the Deghayes family, it seemed history was repeating itself: In 1986, they had fled persecution in Libya where Omar's father had been assassinated, and had sought asylum in Britain. But in 2002, Omar, who had moved to Pakistan, was kidnapped and sold for a $5,000 bounty to US authorities. Details of his subsequent torture at US-run detention centers is well documented. Omar was released, without charges, in December 2007.

In this interview, Omar's brother, Taher, talks about the terror of Omar's imprisonment, but also of the great community of activists from around the world who became involved in trying to free him.

If you've seen the Hollywood movie, Rendition, you'll recognize the story of Saifullah Paracha. In the Hollywood movie, an innocent man is literally kidnapped off a plane by US agents, hooded, shackled and sent to a prison camp. This is essentially what happened to Saifullah Paracha, a Pakistani businessman who in 2003 was removed from a flight and sent to a horrendous US prison camp in Bagram, then on to Guantanamo. As in the movie, the Paracha family had no idea of his whereabouts for over a month. However, unlike the movie which has a happy Hollywood ending, Saifullah remains in Guantanamo where he has been held since 2004. Bread and Roses spoke to Saifullah Paracha's teenage daughter. She lives in Pakistan.